


Truly, This Is a Predicament

by InPrisonForSparkling



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Arranged Marriage, Basically they are two princes from different kingdoms, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Princes, Sort Of, and they have to get married to stop a war, mom said it's my turn to write the comfort ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InPrisonForSparkling/pseuds/InPrisonForSparkling
Summary: Prince Nova honestly hated Prince Jay. Arrogant, prideful, and his stories went on forhours.So why.Pray tell.Did they have to getmarried?Or, haha arranged marriage go brrr
Relationships: DJ Subatomic Supernova/Neon J.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey!! thanks for reading!! comments/kudos are always greatly appreciated, and trust me, i read literally every comment and pretty much cry internally over how nice it is that someone left a comment

It had been a perfectly normal day in the palace of Casttech. Prince Nova hadn't really thought much of it until...

Well.

The news.

Nova sat on his bed, flipping through an old astronomy book of his. He'd always loved the stars.

A nervous-looking servant cleared their throat as they stood in the doorway, letter in hand. "Your Highness, the king wishes for you to read this letter," they told him before scurrying away.

"A letter?" Nova wondered, setting down his book to pick up the piece of paper left by the servant.

 _Your Highness,_ the letter read, _we - the Council of Metro Kingdom - have decided that, to stop the war, something will be required to lessen conflict. As your history with our Prince has not been... ideal, our sincerest apologies for this news. You and Prince Jay are to be married in two months' time._

Nova nearly dropped the letter in shock at that, but he supposed he'd always known he was to be married off at some point. He just didn't think it would be to Prince Jay. With some trepidation, he continued to read the letter.

 _Your carriage to the palace should arrive shortly after this letter. We hope that, despite your and the Prince's rivalry, you might learn to appreciate each other. Yours truly, the Head of the Council._ Underneath that, in what was unmistakeably Prince Jay's own handwriting, _P.S. Prince Jay is just as displeased about this as you are. I don't know about you, but I don't plan on "learning to appreciate" anyone, least of all you._

Nova scoffed. At least Jay didn't have any stupid ideas that they'd be friends or something.

He reluctantly got out of bed and started to pack a couple of things. If the carriage was coming soon, he might as well bring some of his stuff along.

He packed a couple of books and a few items of clothing - only his favorites, as he knew he'd almost certainly get more clothes at Barraca Palace, the castle that lay in the center of the Metro Kingdom and likely his destination.

He sighed, staring up at the ceiling. _Stars help me._

* * *

Jay was _not_ happy.

Nova was a prick, an egotistical, entitled, annoying prick, and Jay had to marry him. This was not fair.

He stared out of the window for a while. The carriage meant to transport Nova here had already left, and because of the - admittedly quite short - distance between their kingdoms, it would arrive soon enough.

Jay groaned, flopping backwards onto his bed. This had to be the worst day of his life.

Well, the wedding in two months time was almost certainly going to be worse. Which made this the _second_ -worst day of his life.

He stared up at the ceiling, trying to work out all of the tiny little events that got him here. He did that often. It was like taking apart a clock to figure out how it worked and then putting it back together, and to Jay, that sort of stuff was calming.

Jay knew he only had about half an hour of not-being-around-Nova left. He intended to use that time to find as many ways to irritate Nova as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kudos are always appreciated, and i owe you my soul if you comment :D

Nova sometimes wished time would speed up. He sometimes wished it would slow down. Other times he wished that it would stop completely, or rewind.

This was a mix of all four.

Eventually, despite all of his thoughts about just how badly this whole thing could turn out, he attempted to distract himself with a book.

But the pages that he'd read with interest many times before seemed dull, boring, and he couldn't keep his attention on them. He wasn't sure why his foot kept tapping on the floor, or why he felt vaguely as if he might throw up. He didn't know why his mind kept drifting away from anything useful.

Probably it was just that his rivalry with Jay was about to spark again. That had to be it, surely.

With a sigh, he set down the book, and stared out of the window.

* * *

Truly, Jay just couldn't wait for the carriage to arrive. He was completely infatuated with, and couldn't wait to see, his fiance.

Now read that last paragraph sarcastically, and you have a summary of Jay's feelings.

This was stupid. Completely and utterly ridiculous. How could the Council think that Jay would _learn to appreciate_ anyone, and Nova of all people?!

Jay sighed in exasperation. This was not a good day.

_Well, this is stressful,_ he thought, glancing at a clock. _If he's coming, why can't he just get here already?_

As if on cue, the carriage rolled leisurely into the gateway to Barraca Palace.

Jay rolled his eyes. _Aaaaand I doomed myself._

Reluctantly, he made his way down to the gates to meet the other prince. They had met before, but this was a "necessary" formality.

Jay walked up to Prince Nova, green eyes shining maliciously. He whipered harshly, and with a slight smirk, "Pretend you like me. I don't find this fun, apart from the fact that it annoys you, but it's a necessity if we're to keep up the 'happy married couple' image for the public."

Nova was silent for a moment, before responding with a tight smile, "Of course."

Jay always was good at reading people. Finding their tells.

Jay had fought, occasionally, in the wars. They called him the Soldier Prince. And while he was fighting, it was always useful to know an opponent's tell.

It could be a slight irregularity in their breathing, a small limp, a scratchiness in the way they spoke, a wince as they moved their wrist. It let him find their weak spot.

Jay had become impressively skilled at figuring out these tells, and while the ability had saved his life many times on the battlefield, it was as useful there as in a meeting room.

If you could figure out someone's tells, you knew when they were lying, when they were getting frustrated, when their interest had been piqued. As the Prince, Jay had needed to know these things often.

Nova's particular tell - a slight glance away - seemed to indicate his annoyance, or perhaps a wish to leave. Jay could figure it out later. Either way, he'd successfully made Nova hate him slightly more.

_Good,_ Jay thought, grinning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments/kudos mean the world to me!! (also Tripping_Upon_The_Stars that comment gave me crazy amounts of motivation, thank you-)

Nova hated this already.

He'd known he would, but it was somehow slightly worse than he'd expected.

About half an hour ago, a servant had shown him to his room. The room, in and of itself, was not unpleasant, but it had been somewhat soured by the numerous pranks that Jay had pulled.

For example, the door had been trapped with a bucket of water and a tripwire, Nova still wasn't sure how the _fuck_ Jay had engineered a machine to slap him in the face, and there were far too many books on "how to deal with annoying people in your home" lying around to be a coincidence.

Nova sighed irritably. This would not be fun.

After he'd dried himself off and changed clothes (due to the bucket incident), he decided to go and find Jay. The inevitable resulting argument would, at least, probably be funny.

* * *

Jay stifled a laugh as he watched Nova storm up to him. His pranks had obviously worked.

"You look angry," he pointed out weakly, shaking with silent laughter.

"No thanks to you," Nova grumbled, glaring at him.

Jay regained his composure momentarily to feign surprise. "But, my _dearest_ prince, it _was_ thanks to me!" There was a moment of silence, then Jay burst out laughing again.

Nova regarded him with sharp blue eyes. "You know, you might be the most insufferable person I have ever met."

"A wonderful achievement!" Jay choked out, leaning against the wall for support.

Nova shook his head, still staring at Jay. "You appear to be having trouble breathing."

Jay glanced at him, grinning. "Aww, do you _care_ about me?"

"What?! No!" Nova snapped.

"Don't lie~" Jay sang, still staring at Nova as if he was daring him to fight. Which he was.

"I shall take my leave now," Nova muttered, glaring at Jay. "Goodbye."

Jay wheezed. "The look on your face! Damn, I must be really bad."

"You _are_ ," Nova responded icily.

Jay laughed again, as if Nova's expression was the funniest thing he had ever seen.

Nova stalked off without another word.

* * *

"Damn him. The most annoying person in the world, and he knows it," Nova grumbled. It wasn't as if Jay didn't know how to be nice, or at the very least quiet, but he just didn't seem to bother when he talked to Nova.

Eventually, Nova arrived at the door to his room and entered (after checking for any stray buckets). He shut himself inside.

This whole thing was so ridiculous. Surely there were better ways to stop the war than this travesty?

There were surely easier ways. There had to be. Nova and Jay hated each other; this would never work out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> coments/kudos are very much appreciated!!  
> i think you can tell that i Very Much enjoy writing Jay rhjhsjfghsj  
> also,, astronomical,, you see what i did there

Eventually, the rush of annoying Nova wore off, and Jay was left alone with his thoughts.

He normally wasn't one to care much about most things, least of all annoying someone he didn't like, but now he felt strangely... _guilty_.

The looks on Nova's face that he'd found so funny just an hour ago hit home, and Jay realized - for the first time, perhaps - that Nova actually _hated_ him.

It wasn't some friendly rivalry, the glares weren't joking. Nova hated him.

Jay hadn't realized what that meant, not really. He hadn't understood it. It meant countless things - the war could really and truly happen, Jay could be left on his own for the rest of his life, he'd deal with glares burning into his back and snarky comments forever.

The Soldier Prince, famed for his plans - for his foresight - had messed up.

He didn't exactly like Nova, but no matter what happened, the astronomically stuck-up prince was someone he'd be spending most of his life with from now on.

Jay stared up at the ceiling, for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He only hoped that he and Nova wouldn't be enemies forever.

* * *

_Two days later; sixty days until the wedding._

Nova had become slightly more accustomed to his new surroundings. So far, there hadn't been any more pranks from Jay (in fact, the "how to deal with annoying people" books had completely vanished), and things had actually been fairly pleasant. Nova was _not_ looking forward to the inevitable next encounter he'd have with Jay, though.

He wandered down to the breakfast hall and froze.

There, standing awkwardly in the doorway, was Prince Jay.

He seemed somewhat lost in thought, his green eyes focused on nothing in particular.

Clearing his throat, Nova asked hesitantly, "...are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh! Uh." Jay stared at him for a moment, before continuing, "Yeah. I- I'm fine. Thanks."

"You sure about that?"

Jay huffed. "I'm just... thinking, okay?"

"I didn't know that was possible for you," Nova deadpanned.

Jay glared at him. "Real funny."

Nova stared for a moment. Jay really was an odd person - one day confident and teasing, and another distant and snappy. Although, perhaps, that was just how people were. Nova didn't interact with others much.

Jay waved a hand in front of Nova's face. "Hello? Earth to Nova?"

Nova jumped slightly in surprise, then smiled. "I'm _just thinking_ , okay?"

"Oh, fuck you," Jay muttered.

And Nova _laughed_.

He hadn't laughed like this - full, unrestrained - since... well, he couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed like this.

He didn't notice Jay staring at him, his mouth slightly open, until he stopped laughing.

"You okay?" Nova asked Jay, still smiling.

"You can show emotions around me," Jay said distantly, before shaking his head. "We- we're asking that a lot, lately."

"...true," Nova admitted. "But did you really think I was that cold?"

Jay crossed his arms, glancing away. "Maybe."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Sure, fine, do that," Jay grumbled. "Let's just have breakfast already."

Nova snorted. "Alright."


End file.
